2013 in Review

For all 3 of you who still check this blog from time to time, here is a recap of what went down in the Moss home over the past 12 months:

January 

Elliot started eating solid food.  It was love at first bite.

I continued to craft my dramatic skills.  This is my best lion impression.

Elliot had a surgical procedure done, then came down with flu, his first ear infection, croup, and conjunctivitis about a week later.  It was not a good month for him!  

Oh yeah, and I ended the month with strep throat.  The medical establishment loved our family in January!

February

I turned 4, then shortly after danced the night away with Mommy and Daddy at Mommy's school Valentine dance.

Elliot and I had our pictures taken by a super talented teacher at our daycare.

March

Spring Break was another rough time in our house for sickness.  Mommy had the flu, a sinus infection (that she says was almost as painful as unmedicated childbirth), and bronchitis.  I had a few days of some yucky virus that was being passed around our school.

We did get to enjoy a beautiful day outside with Dan and Auntie before my sickness set in.  You can also see my banged haircut here.  I told Mommy I wanted bangs like Feist.  Didn't quite pan out.

We ended the month celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We enjoyed a gorgeous day outside at Dan and Auntie's first place of residence.  You can see Auntie's growing baby bump in this shoot, too!

April

Our entire family participated in our first (and thus far, only) 5K.  We came in pretty close to last, but really enjoyed ourselves.

Elliot started sucking his thumb.  Little stinker waited until he was 9 months old to pick that habit up.

And I continued to continue crafting my drama mama abilities.  

May

Elliot began to show his daredevil side by climbing just about everything in the house.

Mommy, Elliot, and I survived our first Spring storm (translation: tornadoes all around) sans Daddy.  He was at church, as the weather came through on a Wednesday night.  Mommy realized just how much she relies on Daddy to be the strong one during these types of emergencies.  She really missed his presence!  

She was thankful, though, that these flashlights provided both Elliot and I with a necessary distraction while tornado sirens blared.

June

We celebrated the best daddy around during Father's Day.

 And Elliot was finally dedicated at church!

July

Mommy and Daddy celebrated their 10th anniversary.

And this little guy turned 1 the very next day!

We also took a road trip to visit family in Illinois and Canada.

August

Madeline Michelle was born to Auntie and Dan!

I started full day PreK, and Mommy started teaching at the school Elliot and I attend!

 Elliot also had tubes put in his ears, which ended his inner ear's reign of terror!

September

Apparently, we did absolutely nothing worth taking pictures of this month.

Or Mommy was so busy juggling the beginning of a school year, learning a new grade level's curriculum (she's teaching 2nd this year), and adjusting to a new school that she barely had time to breathe, let alone pick up a camera.

October

I dressed as Pippi Longstocking for our church's Trunk or Treat.

And Elliot was a cute little Hobbit.

November

Elliot learned that spaghetti is awesome and, consequently, experienced his first shower.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Auntie and Dan's new house with all kinds of family, both biological and hand-picked.

And Mommy got a kick out of the picture I chose to draw at school to show what I was most thankful for.

December

The month started with an iceapocolypse in the North Texas area.  We were pretty much shut down for 4 days.  Our electricity was out on the first icy day, so we cautiously drove a few miles to the warmth of Auntie and Dan's house.

Mommy also lost her wedding ring on the third or fourth day of Icemageddon.  Over the next week, she and Daddy turned the house upside down looking for it.  We're talking emptied the vaccum, searched through the trash, checked the ring traps in all of the plumbing, and took a flashlight to just about every nook and cranny they could find!  Still no ring.

Even without the wedding ring, though, we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season!  Celebrating the birth of the Savior is always such a beautiful time.

Mommy and Daddy also started taking classes this month for our family to provide short term care for children in the foster care system.  They are really excited to see where God takes our family on this journey!

The Sunday before Christmas I came down with the flu.  We were really bummed that I would have to miss out on some of the family festivities.  When Mommy was getting a pallet ready for me so I could sleep on the floor in her and Daddy's room, though, something heavy and shiny fell out of my sleeping bag.  It was her wedding ring!  She's pretty sure she heard heavenly choirs singing right at that moment!

And, more good news: my fever broke just in time for me to join the family at our Christmas Eve service!

We got a Christmas Miracle two-fer!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Friday was my 1st birthday!

Here are a few things you should know about me at 1 year old:

I wear a size 4 diaper and am just moving into 18 month clothes.

My favorite foods are raw sugar snap peas, chicken, applesauce, and pumpkin.  I take food very seriously.  My family knows they'd better be ready to put food on my high chair tray the instant they set me in that thing...or be willing to suffer the ear splitting consequences.

I love to sing!  The only lyric I actually know right now is "Aaaaaaaaah", but I plan to build my repertoire soon.

I know the sounds a lion and puppy make.  I have also learned how to say "this" (as in "what is this?) and "sissy" (kind of, sort of).    That brings my vocabulary total up to about 10 words, but I really don't use them often.

I've mastered the art of the pointer finger.  I use it all the time to show my family where I want to go or what I want to eat.

I'm a walker!  In the last two weeks I've started walking more than crawling.

I started cutting teeth last week.  Three at one time, thank you very much!

11 Months

I turned 11 months old last Wednesday.  

Mommy and Daddy are wondering how in the world that happened!

 Here are some things you should know about me at 11 months:

I weigh 19 pounds.  My clothes are 12 months and I'm now in size 4 diapers.

Most nights I go to bed between 6:30-7:15.  Most mornings I wake between 6:00-7:30.  

I'm still waking up once at night to eat.  Mommy planned to cut out my night time feedings when she finished the school year, but...

my ear infection issues have yet to be resolved.  In fact, I've had an infection every two weeks since the beginning of April.  Antibiotics clear them up, but they come right back once I'm finished with my meds.  Since ear infections are a known source of nighttime waking, Mommy's not willing to let me "cry it out" just yet.  I have an appointment with an ENT tomorrow, so hopefully tubes (and relief) will be headed my way soon.

(Hiding out in Mommy and Daddy's bathroom during my first round of North Texas spring storms.)

And while I'm on the subject of medical issues, you may be interested to know that I appear to be allergic to bananas and avocado.  Crazy, huh?  Between the antibiotics/Motrin I've had for ear infections and Benadryl I've had for allergic reactions, I'm pretty much the best 11 month old medicine-taker in the world!

On a more upbeat note, I took my first steps this past month!  Crawling is still my preferred mode of travel, but I'm willing to walk when it's convenient for me.

I've also learned how to clap, as well as point with my index finger.  I look pretty stinkin' cute practicing both of those skills.

It looks like my hair is going to be curly!

When someone points a camera in my direction, they just might get this face in return:

I prefer to communicate in grunts and squeals, but I am able to say Mama, Dada, ba ba (bye bye), up, yeah, baa (ball), and na na (night night).  Dada is my favorite word!

Katie Bug's room just may be my favorite in the whole house.  She works really hard to make sure none of her itty bitty toys are within my reach while I'm in there with her.

Speaking of my sissy, her newest nickname for me is Sulbukoo.  Or something like that.  That girl has a gift for creating nicknames no one else can pronounce!

I am really good at entertaining myself while Mommy makes dinner.  Of course, that means she has to deal with this aftermath...

...but she doesn't mind!

I love to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy.  

I still mainly reserve my thumb sucking for Mommy's arms.  If my ears are bothering me, though, I pop the thumb a little more frequently.

In short: I am the busiest, sweetest baby boy around.

10 Months

I turned 10 months old on Sunday!

 

 

Here are some things you should know about me at 10 months:

 

I weigh just under 20 pounds.

 

I wear 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

 

I can say Mama, Dada, Hi, and Baba (although my family isn't entirely sure what I mean by that last one). 

 

I can sign "nurse".  Currently, I use it interchangeably for breastfeed, bottle, and eat.

 

My favorite books are "Baby Giggles" and "Hello".  Those were also favorites of my sissy when she was a baby.

 

I am one ear infection away from being referred to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor for tubes. Mommy and Daddy are pretty sad about that.

 

 

I nurse/bottle feed 5-6 times a day.  When I'm at school, I go about 4 hours in between bottles.  If I'm at home with Mommy, though, I like to nurse a little more frequently.

 

I still eat purees at school, but I've made the switch to table foods at home.  I definitely do best with larger pieces of food.  Teeny tiny pieces really don't interest me.  I started eating meat this month, and it's pretty clear that I am quite the carnivore.

 

 

I'm old enough to have some dairy, but Mommy and Daddy are not planning to introduce it yet since I still have negative reactions to dairy if Mommy eats it.

 

My run with swim lessons was rather short lived.  Although Mommy and Daddy liked the goals of the swim class in which I was enrolled, they weren't comfortable with the methods being used to achieve those goals.  They did find a new class/teacher we'll be trying out in the summer, though!

 

I figured out how to clap this weekend!

 

I've started standing on my own for a few seconds at a time.

 

I am a climber!  My parents have had to do some minor rearranging in mine and sissy's room to unaccommodate my pension for heights.

 

 

It seems that my thumb sucking is limited to the times that I'm trying to fall asleep or being held by Mommy.  I do suck it occassionally when Daddy is holding me, but it's pretty much a given if I'm in Mommy's arms.  My teachers at school say I rarely do it there, though.

 

My hair is becoming curly!

 

You probably get tired of hearing me say this, but my family is pretty much enthralled by me.  They think I'm the cutest, chillest, best baby around!

Undercover Thumb Sucker

Our little man managed to pull off a great trick on Mommy and Daddy.  For 9 months, he had them convinced that he was not a thumb sucker.

 

Oh, sure, he'd suck his thumb on infrequent occassions, but he definitely didn't show any sort of attachment to it.

 

Until about 2 weeks ago.  At that point, he became a card carrying member of the Tumb Sucking Club...and no amount of paci-offering or mouth-blocking can deter this new member from the joy of the thumb.

 

 

Doesn't he have great form?  He's even mastered the "index finger hook" technique already!

 

Even though it's adorable now, Mommy and Daddy are not looking forward to trying to break this habit in the future.

Got our runnin' shoes on.

This morning our family enjoyed our first ever 5K!  It was sponsored by Baylor Health Systems (Auntie's employer for the past 4 years and Poppy's employer for the past 2 months) and was pretty small in scope...which was really perfect for us non-runners.

 

Need proof that Mommy is an absolute non-runner?  Take a look at what she wore to the race!

 

 

I'm sure you won't be suprised to know that she was the only person wearing jeans.  In her defense, she does own one pair of exercise pants.  After 9.5 months of nursing, though, she has a hard time keeping them up.

 

Elliot spent most of the race in the arms or on the shoulders of the grownups in our clan.  He chilled in the stroller for the last leg, though. 

 

 

I spent the race alternating between walk/running and relaxing in the stroller.  When we came into view of the finish line, though, I decided to end strong with Daddy.

 

 

 We posed for a family picture once everyone else strolled through the finish line.

 

 

(You can't tell in this picture, but Aunit is 5 months pregnant!  I don't think Elliot or I have mentioned that in any of our prior infrequent posts.  Madeline Michelle is expected to make her entrance in early September!)

 

9 Months

I turned 9 months old on the 12th of April.

 

 

Here's some things you should know about me at 9 months:

 

 

(This is clearly the absolute worst ever monthday photo shoot.)

 

At my well child visit I weighed 19 lbs 9.5 oz (30th %) and measured 28.75 in long (60th %).

 

I can play peek-a-boo!

 

I can say DaDa, MaMa, and hi...although I don't like to say any of them very often.

 

I love to jibber jabber when I'm riding in my carseat.

 

I often "hum" myself to sleep for naps and at night time

 

 

Last month Mommy said she was hoping I'd be off purees and solely eating table foods by now. 

Ha, ha, Mommy! 

 

I've become quite the little booger in the bathtub!  I'm constantly trying to stand up in there.

 

Ear infections have been a regularly occuring illness for me.  I think I've already had 5 in my short lifetime.

 

My sissy usually gets the first smile out of me every morning.  I just love that girl!  Thankfully, the feeling is mutual.

 

 

I started swim lessons.  Daddy and I are in a "First Splash" class together.  It's designed to get me comfortable in the water and teach me to roll onto my back and float if I ever fall into a pool/lake/whatever. 

 

I've figured out how to "walk" with the help of walking toys, heavy baskets, chairs, and just about anything else I can stand behind and push.

 

 

I love to be outside!  Mommy and Daddy don't let me get on the ground too often, though, because I still put everything into my mouth.

 

I have developed a strong preference for Mommy and just recently started crying when she drops me off at "school" in the mornings.  The tears don't last long, though.

 

Not to brag, but I am a favorite of the teachers at my "school".  They all think I'm pretty awesome!

 

My family thinks I'm pretty awesome, too!